Middle Age - Aging

Aging

Middle-aged adults often show visible signs of aging such as loss of skin elasticity and graying of the hair. Physical fitness usually wanes, with a 5–10 kg (10-20 lb) accumulation of body fat, reduction in aerobic performance and a decrease in maximal heart rate. Strength and flexibility also decrease throughout middle age. However, people age at different rates and there can be significant differences between individuals of the same age.

Both male and female fertility declines with advancing age. Advanced maternal age increases the risk of a child being born with some disorders such as Down syndrome. Advanced paternal age sharply increases the risk of miscarriage, as well as Down syndrome, schizophrenia, autism, decreased intellectual capacity, and bipolar disorder. Most women will experience menopause, which ends natural fertility, in their late 40s or early 50s. But fertility in these women already started to decline in their 20s, and continues to decline every year. Ten years before menopause, their fertility is already very low.

This means that women in their late 30s already face problems trying to conceive. There is a solution available for this: egg-freezing or oocyte cryopreservation for the unmarried woman so she can use her own eggs when she tries to conceive later in life.

In developed countries, yearly mortality begins to increase more noticeably from age 40 onwards, mainly due to age-related health problems such as heart disease and cancer. However, the majority of middle-age people in industrialized nations can expect to live into old age. Life expectancy in developing countries is much lower and the risk of death at all ages is higher.